Today I would like to take you through the difference between macro leadership and micro-managing, and how they’ve been crucial in shaping my business.
I was going into town the other day with Jenna and the kids, and I had an epiphany.
Leadership is a lot like baking a pie. Let me explain.
On the way to Becca’s Chop Shop (huge shout to Becca!) for my son’s haircut, I was driving past the house of someone I knew. He is someone who would fall under the ‘I’ category in the Disc framework.
People from this category are really influential, but at the same time, not really driven.
This basically means they lack structure in their routine.
In my head I was thinking, ‘’Man I wish I could work with this guy, he is really great’’ but deep down I knew we just wouldn’t work out.
It’s been that way when it comes to working with anybody from that ‘I’ category for me.
The question I found myself asking is why is this the case?
As I was thinking I realized that ”Leadership is like baking a pie”.
Jenna turned over and saw me have this light bulb moment and asked me what I was smirking about.
I told her with a straight face ‘‘leadership is like baking a pie’’, and instantly it grabbed her attention.
Think about it.
What separates a successful business from a mediocre one, is the breakdown of macro-level leadership within it.
Now I am a BIG PICTURE leader. I love thinking big and opening a bunch of loops. That really gets me excited.
Makes my engine rev if you will!
What I need is to have a group of macro-leaders on my team who get the big picture, but who don’t necessarily have to be as excited as I am about it.
We just celebrated some holiday and there sure have been a lot of us stuffing our faces with delicious pies this season.
So, I am going to use this pie analogy to explain what macro leadership is.
Besides, who doesn’t love a good pie.
Macro leaders at each level are what create the levels of success the business will end up having.
‘‘Behind every great pie, is the leader who had the vision behind making it’’.
Print that on a t-shirt!
In all seriousness though, the big-picture leaders are the ones who are going to answer the question: What kind of pie are we going to make? Where is the business going?
This leader decides the kind of pie the team is going to work together to create.
Whether it’s an apple pie, a peach pie, or even a ‘mince-meat pie’, yes it’s a real thing, shout out to Grandma Greer for making the best mince pies EVER!!!
It’s important, in those moments, to have a leader that can and will decide the big picture stuff. They give the team a common vision to work towards and help to make sure that each team has what they need to succeed.
Generally, these are high ‘D’ individuals (if you refer to the DISC framework I talk about).
The first leader that follows in the chain of command, leads by making the crust. Or laying the foundation if you will.
Every great pie starts off with a great crust. This leader needs to know what kind of base the pie needs to have to take it to the next stage.
They take us from having a vision to executing the foundation. Whether that’s by making a graham cracker crust or picking dough.
It’s important to communicate the vision clearly with this leader. You then avoid a situation where the leader makes the wrong base for the wrong pie.
You wouldn’t want to eat a pumpkin pie with a doughy base now, would you?
Think about it can you build a skyscraper on the same foundation that you build a play hose on?
HECK NO!!!!!
So yes this Macro-Leader needs to know the whole vision in order to truly succeed.
The second leader in this chain of command is in charge of the filling. Again, it’s important that the big picture is communicated well here too.
They have a team who begins to create the elements of the pie.
They go even deeper to understand the small details behind making the pie great, even stuff like how the pie is going to be served.
The next set of leaders covers the topping. It’s crucial to take care of each element in the process in order to make the final product great.
Take a pumpkin pie, for example, I would argue that the most loved topping for it would be whipped cream. Replacing that would change the outcome entirely.
The fourth set of leaders are the ones baking this delicious dessert. They need to see the big picture as well because they will be setting the temperature, figuring out how long to keep it in the oven, and how it’s going to be served.
If they only see the crust and not the filling, how will they know what’s in the pie to know how long to cook it??????
Now we are nearly there!
The final set of leaders takes care of serving the pie. The final step is to cut it up and pass it out to be enjoyed. Maybe even serve a little ice cream with it if you really want to over-deliver!
Can you see the importance of communicating the big picture to each level of macro-leaders to ensure that the pie turns out great?
We go from an IDEA to EXECUTION – with a sweet finish – all through the help of macro-leaders.
Let’s take a real-life application of this illustration. www.DOTDocs.com (shameless plug I know) offers a platform that makes it so simple for businesses to track the compliance of their drivers and their entire DOT program.
It’s an organized dashboard that allows businesses to quickly get into compliance. When we say that we take the complexity out of compliance. We take the statement seriously.
But……
A salesperson who is not aware that our best clients run trucks in their business might end up pitching our platform to doctors who wouldn’t be able to use it. they might get excited about being able to track compliance.
Ok, I know no one gets excited about compliance, except for the experts here at Eclipse DOT. We quite literally eat, breathe, and live this stuff. And yes good thing for you it does get us excited!!!!
Anyways……
There is a huge DISCONNECT between the service the salesperson sold the doctor, and who it is built for.
Coming back to the pie analogy, if the macro-leader baking it thinks he’s baking a cheesecake and sets the oven at 325 degrees, for 45 mins but in reality, it’s actually an apple pie. The pie that will eventually come out of the oven would not be GREAT. It might be edible, it might not even be that.
But most definitely it will not be GREAT!
This is why communication across all levels is crucial. One team could compromise the entire operation.
So many people fail to get this point.
Leadership is about every person on the team succeeding. It’s not solely for just the big picture folks like me to run the entire operation.
In my opinion, you don’t have to have the title of a leader, supervisor, manager, or even foreman to act like one.
Coming back to the whole DISC framework and the friend’s house I passed by… I swear I wasn’t just ranting!
Ok, maybe I was! Just a little. lol
High ‘I’ people need macro-leaders to guide them on what to do because they are not super organized. But they are GREAT with people. That’s what makes them successful.
High-D people on the other hand keep bouncing around from one shiny object to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next…….
And this might stop them from getting the success they desire. They need to surround themselves with OUTSTANDING Macro-Leaders to help them accomplish the bigger picture.
You need to have macro-leaders who can bring balance to the team with their different strengths.
If you don’t have a big-picture guy or gal, go find one!
If you don’t have Macro-Leaders on your team to help you accomplish your big goals, then go find them.
You might consider hiring a mentor to coach you into being the leader your team needs.
Ultimately, it’s not about being a micromanager – whom everyone secretly despises – but being a MACRO-LEADER who can carry the team towards the BIG PICTURE.
